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them as subjects; for the very swift laying aside of power removed envy, as the subjects saw on the same day and night the same man become a private citizen from a king. I know, of course, other things that have been said about such a form of government, but I myself have adopted the more plausible account. This form of government was called an interregnum by the Romans. But even so disturbances arose from suspicion, as the patricians were suspected of turning the 2.99 state into an oligarchy and not wanting to be ruled by a king; and from this they fell into factional strife. But when all agreed that he who was to be king should be chosen, the Sabines gave the first choice to the Romans; and they chose Numa Pompilius from the Sabines, a man known to all for his virtue. Accordingly, ambassadors are sent to him from Rome; for he had not moved to Rome, but was in the land of the Sabines and lived in the city of Cures, being the son of Pomponius, a man of high repute, having practiced every virtue both by nature and by education. Whence also he had a great name and reputation, so that Tatius, who had reigned with Romulus, made him his son-in-law by Tatia his daughter, whom he had begotten as his only one; and she, after living with Numa for thirteen years, passed away from life. But Numa, leaving his pursuits in the city, wished mostly to live in the country and spend his time in meadows and groves. The ambassadors therefore came from Rome, calling him to the kingship, as he was now completing his fortieth year; but he refused. But the ambassadors insisted, contriving every way to persuade him, and begging him not to plunge the city again into faction and civil war, since there was no other man upon whom both parties would agree. Privately, however, his father also urged Numa to accept the rule as a divine gift and a service to God and a cause of noble and great deeds for a man who was wise and good, and a bond for his fatherland and for the whole Sabine nation of goodwill and friendship toward a powerful and flourishing city. Yielding to these arguments, Numa, after sacrificing to the gods, proceeded to Rome; and the senate and the peo2.100 ple met him, acclaiming and rejoicing. And when they arrived at the forum, as the royal insignia were being offered to him, ordering them to wait, he said that there was need also of a god to confirm the kingship for him. He goes up therefore to the Capitol, and after sacrificing, and so having assumed the royal robe, he came down. And having taken over the rule, first he disbanded the company of three hundred, whom Romulus always had about his person; for he said it was not right to distrust those who trust, nor did he think it right to rule those who distrust; then he undertook to make the city gentler and more peaceful from being harsh and warlike. He forbade the Romans from setting up an image of God in human or animal form; whence there was among them neither a painted nor a sculpted form of God, and for a hundred and seventy years, though temples were being erected for them, they made no shaped statue, holding it to be neither pious to liken better things to worse ones, nor possible to apprehend God otherwise than by the mind. And he ordained that the sacrifices should be made bloodless, through barley-meal and libation; for it was necessary that the gods, being guardians of peace and justice, should be pure from slaughter; and that one should neither hear nor see any of the divine things in a cursory or careless way, but, taking leave from other things and applying the mind, as to the greatest of actions, to the matter of piety. And from these things and many others, which we have omitted on account of their number, Numa instilled by habit a disposition toward the divine in the people of that time. And they say that he himself was so dependent on the divine with his hopes that once when a message was brought to him while he was sacrificing that the enemy was approaching, he smiled and said, "But I am sacrificing." And the land which Romulus 2.101 had acquired by the spear, this man distributed to the poor among the citizens, taking away from them their poverty, as a thing which creates a necessity for injustice, and turning them to agriculture, as this civilized the people and was able to instill in them a keen love of peace. It is said that also January and February by him to the months

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ἀρχομένους αὐτούς· ἀφῄρει γὰρ τὸν φθόνον ἡ ταχίστη τῆς ἐξουσίας ἀπόθεσις, ὁρώντων τῶν ἀρχομένων τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρας τε καὶ νυκτὸς τὸν αὐτὸν ἰδιώτην ἐκ βασιλέως γινόμενον. οιδα μὲν ουν καὶ ετερά τινα περὶ τῆς τοιαύτης εἰρημένα ἀρχῆς, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς τῷ πιθανωτέρῳ ἐθέμην. τὸ δὲ σχῆμα τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦτο μεσοβασιλεία ̔Ρωμαίοις ὠνόμαστο. ̓Αλλὰ καὶ ουτως ἐξ ὑπονοίας ἐφύοντο θόρυβοι, ὑποπτευομένων τῶν πατρικίων εἰς ὀλιγαρχίαν τὴν 2.99 πολιτείαν περιιστᾶν καὶ μὴ βούλεσθαι βασιλεύεσθαι· ἐκ δὲ τούτου κατεστασίαζον. ὁμονοησάντων δὲ πάντων αἱρεθῆναι τὸν βασιλεύσοντα, οἱ Σαβῖνοι τοῖς ̔Ρωμαίοις προτέροις τὴν αιρεσιν εδοσαν· οἱ δ' ἐκ Σαβίνων ειλοντο Νόμαν Πομπίλιον, οντα ανδρα γνώριμον πᾶσι δι' ἀρετήν. στέλλονται γοῦν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἐκ ̔Ρώμης πρέσβεις· οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῇ ̔Ρώμῃ μετῴκιστο, ἀλλ' ἐν Σαβίνοις ην καὶ πόλιν ῳκει τὴν Κυριτῶν, πατρὸς ων Πομπωνίου ἀνδρὸς εὐδοκίμου, πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν φύσει τε καὶ παιδείᾳ ἐξησκημένος. οθεν καὶ ονομα μέγα καὶ δόξαν ειχεν, ὡς καὶ Τάτιον τὸν τῷ ̔Ρωμύλῳ συμβασιλεύσαντα κηδεστὴν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ Τατίᾳ θέσθαι τῇ θυγατρί, ην μίαν ἐκεῖνος ἐγείνατο· η δέκα ἐπὶ τρισὶν ἐνιαυτοὺς τῷ Νόμᾳ συνοικήσασα μετήλλαξε τὴν ζωήν. ὁ δὲ Νόμας ἐκλιπὼν τὰς ἐν αστει διατριβὰς ἀγραυλεῖν τὰ πολλὰ καὶ διατρίβειν ηθελεν ἐν λειμῶσι καὶ αλσεσιν. Ηκον ουν ἀπὸ ̔Ρώμης οἱ πρέσβεις καλοῦντες ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτὸν ηδη τεσσαρακοστὸν ετος ἀνύοντα· ὁ δὲ ἀπείπατο. οἱ πρέσβεις δ' ἐνέκειντο, πάντα τρόπον πείσειν αὐτὸν μηχανώμενοι, καὶ δεόμενοι μὴ τὴν πόλιν αυθις εἰς στάσιν ἐμβαλεῖν καὶ ἐμφύλιον πόλεμον, οὐκ οντος ἑτέρου πρὸς ον αμφω τὰ μέρη συννεύσουσιν. ἰδίᾳ μέντοι καὶ ὁ πατὴρ παρεκίνει τὸν Νόμαν δέξασθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν ὡς θεῖον δῶρον καὶ ὑπηρεσίαν θεοῦ καὶ πράξεων καλῶν καὶ μεγάλων ἀνδρὶ φρονίμῳ τε καὶ χρηστῷ ἐσομένην αἰτίαν, σύνδεσμόν τε τῇ πατρίδι καὶ παντὶ τῷ Σαβίνων εθνει εὐνοίας τε καὶ φιλίας πρὸς πόλιν δυνατὴν καὶ ἀκμάζουσαν. Τούτοις ἐνδεδωκὼς ὁ Νόμας θύσας τοῖς θεοῖς προῆγεν εἰς ̔Ρώμην· ὑπήντα δὲ ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆ2.100 μος εὐφημοῦντες καὶ χαίροντες. ἐπεὶ δὲ κατέστησαν εἰς τὴν ἀγοράν, προσφερομένων αὐτῷ τῶν βασιλικῶν παρασήμων, ἐπισχεῖν κελεύσας εφη δεῖσθαι καὶ θεοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν ἐμπεδοῦντος αὐτῷ. ανεισιν ουν εἰς τὸ Καπιτώλιον, καὶ θύσας, ουτω τε τὴν βασιλικὴν ἀναλαβὼν ἐσθῆτα, κατέβαινε. Παραλαβὼν δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν πρῶτον μὲν τὸ τῶν τριακοσίων διέλυσε σύστημα, ους περὶ τὸ σῶμα ̔Ρωμύλος ειχεν ἀεί· οὐ γὰρ δεῖν ἀπιστεῖν πιστεύουσιν ελεγεν, οὐδὲ βασιλεύειν ἀπιστούντων ἠξίου· ειτα τὴν πόλιν ἐκ σκληρᾶς καὶ πολεμικῆς ἐπεχείρει μαλακωτέραν ποιῆσαι καὶ εἰρηνικωτέραν. ἀνθρωποειδῆ τε καὶ ζωόμορφον εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἀνιστᾶν ̔Ρωμαίοις ἀπείρηκεν· οθεν οὐδ' ην παρ' αὐτοῖς ουτε γραπτὸν ουτε πλαστὸν ειδος θεοῦ, ἐν ἑκατὸν δὲ πρὸς ἑβδομήκοντα ετεσι ναῶν αὐτοῖς ἀνεγειρομένων οὐδὲν εμμορφον ἐποίουν ἀφίδρυμα, ὡς ουτε οσιον ἀφομοιοῦν τοῖς χείροσι τὰ βελτίονα ουτε ἐφάπτεσθαι αλλως θεοῦ δυνατὸν η νοήσει. καὶ τὰς θυσίας δὲ ἀναιμάκτους ποιεῖσθαι ἐθέσπισε δι' ἀλφίτων τε καὶ σπονδῆς· δεῖν γὰρ τοὺς θεούς, εἰρήνης καὶ δικαιοσύνης φύλακας οντας, φόνου καθαροὺς ειναι· μήτε δὲ ἀκούειν τι τῶν θείων μήτε ὁρᾶν ἐν παρέργῳ καὶ ἀμελῶς, ἀλλὰ σχολὴν αγοντας ἀπὸ τῶν αλλων καὶ προσέχοντας τὴν διάνοιαν ὡς πράξει μεγίστῃ τῇ περὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν. ἐκ δὲ τούτων καὶ αλλων πλειόνων, α διὰ τὸ πλῆθος παρήκαμεν, διάθεσιν πρὸς τὸ θεῖον τοῖς τότε ἀνθρώποις ἐξ ἐθισμοῦ ὁ Νόμας ἐνεποίησεν. αὐτὸν δὲ ουτω φασὶν εἰς τὸ θεῖον ἀνηρτῆσθαι ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ωστε προσαγγελίας αὐτῷ θύοντί ποτε γινομένης ὡς ἐπέρχονται πολέμιοι μειδιᾶσαι καὶ εἰπεῖν "ἐγὼ δὲ θύω." καὶ τὴν χώραν δὲ ην αἰχμῇ ̔Ρωμύλος 2.101 ἐκτήσατο διένειμεν ουτος τοῖς ἀπόροις τῶν πολιτῶν, ἀφαιρῶν ἐξ αὐτῶν τὴν ἀπορίαν, ὡς ἀνάγκην τῆς ἀδικίας ποιητικήν, καὶ τρέπων εἰς γεωργίαν, ὡς ταύτης ἐξημερούσης τὸν δῆμον καὶ δριμὺν εἰρήνης δυναμένης ἐμποιεῖν ερωτα. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ τὸν ̓Ιανουάριον καὶ τὸν Φεβρουάριον παρ' αὐτοῦ τοῖς μησὶ